See also Loire Valley.

Loire is a département in the east-central part of France occupying the Loire River's upper reaches.

History

Loire was created in 1793 when the original département of Rhône-et-Loire was split.

Its capitals have been the following:

• Feurs from 1793-1795
• Montbrison from 1795-1855
• Saint-Étienne since 1855

Geography

Loire is part of the current region of Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the départements of Rhône, Isère, Ardèche, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Allier, and Saône-et-Loire.

The Loire crosses the département from south to north.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the département are called Ligériens.

The industrial city of Saint-Étienne with its suburbs contains some 290,000 of the area's 728,542 inhabitants.

See also

• Saint-Étienne - Capital
• Cantons of the Loire département
• Communes of the Loire département
• Arrondissements of the Loire département
• French language
• Franco-Provençal language

External links

• rent your holyday house in national parc in france (in French and english)
• Prefecture website (in French)
• Conseil Général website (in French)
• St. Étienne website (in English)
• Visiting the Loire - In English

Loire

Loira (departament) | Луара (департамент) | Loire (Département) | Loire | Loire (département) | Loira (dipartimento francese) | Loire (departement) | ロワール県 | Loire (departement) | Lèger | Loire (Bezirk) | Loire (departament) | Loire | Loire | Луара (департамент) | Loire (departement) | Loire | 卢瓦尔省